水 (shuǐ;water)

水 is a pictograph. The ancient form of 水 looks like a flowing river. When 水 is used as a radical standing on the left of a compound character, it is written as 氵. The character 汉（hàn）has the氵radical, because汉 is name of an ancient river – The Han River. In ancient times, Chinese people lived along the Han River, so today Chinese people are also known as the Han. The first ruler to unite China and maintain long-term hegemony called his dynasty The Han Dynasty. Han people as known as 汉族 (hàn zú; Han Nation) and their language is referred as 汉语 (hàn yǔ：Chinese).